The readings for mass today are sad and disturbing. They are about evil and a person being possessed by evil spirits. Many modern people do not believe that the devil is real. Those that do believe that the devil is real, believes that the way he manifests himself is by tempting us to do things that are wrong. That is the case with David’s son Absalom, who was attempting to kill him and take over his kingdom. The gospel however, depicts evil at it’s worst, when a demon(s) actually possess a person. The gospel today is the basis of the Rite of Exorcism in the Catholic church.
The first reading from the book of Samuel depicts the ultimate act of betrayal. King David’s son Absalom had convinced the people of Israel to back him and was preparing to kill King David and take his kingdom. Can you imagine what King David must have felt like? His own son was trying to kill him! As a parent, the betrayal must have been much worse than the physical threat of death he faced. It is difficult to hear about King David’s broken heart. The scriptures say that David went up to the Mount of Olives and wept without ceasing.
There is no comfort to be found for a parent, when an adult child turns to evil. God does not take their free will from them though. We were given the freedom to choose good or evil. When a child follows the promptings of the devil and does things that are evil, it can break a parent’s heart. They can sometimes feel like an utter failure as a parent. Other people may view them that way too, but it isn’t their fault. No one can control another person’s free will, not even God. Absalom’s betrayal was not a reflection on King David, or whether he was a good parent or not. Parent’s who grieve their adult children’s behavior should mark this passage in the bible about Absalom. It could be of some comfort to know they are not alone. King David also suffered terribly over his son’s betrayal.
Sometimes the devil doesn’t just tempt and mislead people, he actually possesses them. Today’s gospel is about demonic possession. It is the scriptural basis for the Rite of Exorcism in the Catholic church. Mark 5: 1-20
We do not know a whole lot about the man possessed by a demon today, but there are a couple of things that indicate actual possession by a demon. Super human strength is one of the marks of possession. People who are possessed are able to do things physically, that is above the abilities of human beings. The demonic in today’s scripture kept breaking the chains and shackles that people bound him with.
Another thing that indicates possession is that demons immediately recognize anything to do with Jesus, and that Christ has authority over them. The demons immediately went to Jesus of their own accord in today’s gospel and asked him not to send them away from that territory. There was no question that they were being forced to leave the man, even they recognized they were powerless in front of Christ. Even today, just the name of Jesus Christ can help to drive evil spirits away. There is power in his very name.
Jesus began testing the spirits inside the demonic man and discovered that he was indeed, possessed. He asked the demon, “what is your name?” and this is a goal of exorcism in modern times as well. Once the demon has given his name, he has come under Christ’s authority and can be driven out of the possessed person. In this case, there were many demons inside the man. No wonder the demonic was always crying out and bruising himself with rocks, in a futile attempt to drive the demons out of him.
The demons in today’s gospel sound pretty stupid though, asking to be sent into the herd of swine. They drove the swine over the cliff and drowned them in the sea. When the towns people arrived on the scene, they knew a powerful miracle had occurred and it was just too much for them to grasp. They were afraid of Christ’s power. He obviously had powers that no other human being had and it was frightening. They also lost a huge herd of swine because of him, which was probably a financial catastrophic as well. They asked Jesus to leave, but the demonic man asked him to stay. Jesus needed this man to stay though, so that he would talk about what happened to him, after everyone was calmed down.
The devil and his demons are real and there is a real danger in being tempted by them. Possession starts as a harmless temptation. Temptation is like a venial sin and possession is like a mortal sin, in that one leads to the other. We open the doorway to the occult ourselves, by allowing ourselves to be drawn into temptations, or to become overly curious about evil.
The best defense against evil is to live a holy life, frequent the sacraments often, pray regularly and surround ourselves with Christian people. There is a saying that “birds of a feather flock together”. That was true with the Legion of demons in the gospel, and the men who backed Absalom in the first reading, but it is also true with Christians as well. We support one another in living good, holy lives and avoiding what is evil.
So today, we should be aware of the need to resist even small temptations or indulge in curiosity about things that are not of God. Evil is not harmless, as is evident in today’s readings for mass.
Daily Mass Readings:
2 Sm 15: 13-14, 30, 16: 5-13/ Ps 3: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7/ Mk 5: 1-20
